College of Ventriloquism

While many bards weave wondrous melodies through the ears of the townsfolk they encounter, bards of the College of Ventriloquism draw crowds by spurring life into colorful dolls and puppets, producing fantastic performances of theater. Be it a woeful tragedy or raucous comedy, these performers are unrivaled in their ability to evoke heart-wrenching stories and fanciful characters with a fervor that leaves any small town they pass through chattering for weeks.

Tugging not just on the heart-strings of their patrons, bards of the College of Ventriloquism learn how to manifest their own internal energies as Spirit Threads, mystical strands invisible to the natural eye. With these, a bard can reach out and connect to an object or even another creature, exerting a degree of control over its movements and behavior.

Artisanal Hands

3rd-level College of Ventriloquism feature

You learn to use the cross brace for a marionette as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells. You also gain proficiency in woodcarver's tools.

Mystical Puppetry

3rd-level College of Ventriloquism feature

You gain the ability to manifest your spirit threads, connecting them to inanimate objects and bringing them under your influence.

As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to affix your spirit threads to a Tiny or Small object you can see, thereby making it your mystic puppet. The object must be within 30 feet you and not being worn or carried.

Your mystic puppet is a magical object. Regardless of its original size, it is treated as Small and occupies its space. It has an AC of 18 and a number of hit points equal to five times your bard level. It has a flying speed of 15 feet and can hover. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all its ability scores as 10 (+0). If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. Your mystic puppet returns to being a mundane object after 1 hour, if you die or fall unconscious, if it is reduced to 0 hit points, or if you end this effect early for it (no action required).

When you create your mystic puppet, roll on the Mystical Performance table using your Bardic Inspiration die to determine your puppet's comedic character. Immediately, and as a bonus action on your subsequent turns, you can direct the puppet to move up to its speed, and then produce the effect associated with its character, provided it is within 30 feet of you. The puppet targets a creature within 30 feet of it to produce the effect, and if the effect requires that target to make a saving throw, the DC equals your spell save DC.

Mystical Performance

Bardic   Insp. Die	Comedic Character
1	The Witch in the Woods. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be restrained until the end of its next turn.
2	The Priest. Roll your Bardic Inspiration die. The target gains a number of temporary HP equal to the number rolled + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 point).
3	The Hunter. Until the start of your next turn, the target has advantage on attack rolls made against creatures below their HP maximum.
4	The Assassin. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes poison damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die, and is poisoned until the end of its next turn.
5	The Savage. The target gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage until the start of your next turn.
6	The Mage. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. It takes fire damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
7	The Champion. Until the start of your next turn, the target's weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
8	The Old One. The first time the target suffers damage from an attack before the start of your next turn, the attacking creature takes psychic damage equal to half the damage dealt.
9	The Protector. The target gains a bonus to the first saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn. This bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum bonus of +1).
10	The Mutant. The target has disadvantage on the first saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn to avoid taking damage from a spell or to reduce the damage taken.
11	The Martial Artist. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the start of your next turn.
12	The Actor. The puppet replicates the effect of a different comedic character of your choice (choose each time it produces this effect).

Thrown Voice

3rd-level College of Ventriloquism feature

You learn the minor illusion cantrip, which doesn't count against the number of bard cantrips you know. If you already know this cantrip, you instead learn a different bard cantrip of your choice. In addition, when you cast minor illusion to create a sound, you can do so without somatic or material components, and the range of the spell becomes 60 feet for this casting.

Disrupted Discharge

6th-level College of Ventriloquism feature

You can release a burst of magical energy from your puppet as your spirit threads are severed. As a reaction when the effects of your Mystical Puppetry feature end for an object, you can choose a creature within 30 feet of the object, granting it advantage on the next attack roll, ability check or saving throw it makes in the next 10 minutes.

Distant Influence

6th-level College of Ventriloquism feature

The strength of your spirit threads grows to a point where your influence can briefly overpower the wills of living beings. As an action, you can choose a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC as you attempt to affix your spirit threads to it. A willing creature can choose to fail this saving throw.

On a failed save, the creature must use its reaction (if available) to move up to its speed in a direction of your choice that does not require it to move into actively harmful terrain. You can then have it make a weapon attack against a different creature of your choice as part of the same reaction.

Masterful Puppetry

14th-level College of Ventriloquism feature

Your mystical influence affords you greater control over the magicks manifested by the puppets you create. Whenever you roll on the Mystical Performance table, you can roll the die twice and choose which of the two comedic characters your puppet embodies. If you roll the same number on both dice, you can instead treat the result as any number on the die except 12.